John’s Consistently Inconsistent LJ Build

[Wildman]

Here is what I used. This manifold from Power Tank has the BSP threads for the ARB & then NPT for the rest of it.

https://powertank.com/products/power-tank-to-arb-manifold-install-kit

Here is mine mounted on my fender.

As far as the head on the compressor getting warm, I can tell you YES it can but I don't know that it'll melt that hose or not but I think I'd get a fitting to route it away from the York.

 

[jrfuda]

Here is what I used. This manifold from Power Tank has the BSP threads for the ARB & then NPT for the rest of it.

https://powertank.com/products/power-tank-to-arb-manifold-install-kit

As far as the head on the compressor getting warm, I can tell you YES it can but I don't know that it'll melt that hose or not but I think I'd get a fitting to route it away from the York.

Thank you! I think I saw that on one of your other posts and it is definitely one of the options I'm looking at. I'd probably replace their pressure gauge with the solenoid for the ORO SwayLOC actuator (assuming it's NPT, I've not looked yet) since I plan on having a regulator before the manifold, and I'd place the pressure relief valve on the bottom of the tank (if I use it) or ahead of the regulator.

 

[Wildman]

Thank you! I think I saw that on one of your other posts and it is definitely one of the options I'm looking at. I'd probably replace their pressure gauge with the solenoid for the ORO SwayLOC actuator (assuming it's NPT, I've not looked yet) since I plan on having a regulator before the manifold, and I'd place the pressure relief valve on the bottom of the tank (if I use it) or ahead of the regulator.

I don't have the pressure gauge on my manifold either and yes when I had my SwayLoc I did it the same way. You end up with some parts you don't need for what you're doing. The other option is to find some fittings with NPT threads on one side and BSP threads on the other and then use a manifold.

 

[jrfuda]

The other option is to find some fittings with NPT threads on one side and BSP threads on the other and then use a manifold.

That's what I was thinking of doing with the $20 amazon manifolds. In addition to not needing adapters, the spacing of the ports on the Power Tank is also appealing. I could easily approach the cost of the Power Tank building out a $20 manifold to do what the Power Tanks does out of the box.

 

[Wildman]

That's what I was thinking of doing with the $20 amazon manifolds. In addition to not needing adapters, the spacing of the ports on the Power Tank is also appealing. I could easily approach the cost of the Power Tank building out a $20 manifold to do what the Power Tanks does out of the box.

It was why I went with theirs also plus I didn't want to have to find adapters or special fittings. And used the pressure gauge from the kit on the regulator so I reused most of the parts.
I'm with you on wanting to make it all off ONE thing. I didn't see the point in having the York & then also running the ARB compressor. Just seemed silly to me since I already had this compressor. I've been running a York on my rigs now for over 30 years and they can't be beat for what they do.
Now granted with my AiRock system I have to have the York but I had one before I ever got it too.

 

[jrfuda]

This morning, I tidied up the wires and connected the lights I was working on earlier in the week. I had a big bundle of wires right where the bracket for the airlines from the ORO kit needed to go, so I needed to finish the front lighting to get them out of the way.

I installed the provided bracket holding the distribution maniflold onto the grill. You reuse the passenger brace bolt and use a provided bolt and neat aluminum tab nut to secure the bracket in place. I dry fit it a couple of times and had to grind it in a spot and bend it a little to get the exact orientation I wanted. The manifold has the pressure switch, a safety valve, the input from the compressor, and a quick connect for output.

I then installed the included nipple onto the York's intake port and cut a short piece of provided tubing to length and cut the vent line coming from the air box so I could insert a tee which will provide filtered air to the York. I also dry fit the fitting and line from the compressor to the distribution manifold (not inserted yet in the pics). This arrangement pretty much fixed the issue I had earlier with the vent line contacting the heatsink.

They provide a nice 6' piece of stainless braided airline that is supposed to help cool the hot air a bit before it gets to the airline distribution manifold. This is likely the routing I will use since it is pretty much to only option. One thing I found intriguing is, in the instructions, they show an optional oil filter between the end of the braided line and the distribution bracket with a return line connecting the filter's drain to the oil fill plug on the suction side of the pump. It has a float that releases oil when it gets to a certain level, and I assume the suction of the compressor sucks it back in. Has anyone tried this? The filter on the ORO site is pricey, though - but that exact filter is that price everywhere I've looked.

Here's a wider shot of the install so far.

 

[Wildman]

This morning, I tidied up the wires and connected the lights I was working on earlier in the week. I had a big bundle of wires right where the bracket for the airlines from the ORO kit needed to go, so I needed to finish the front lighting to get them out of the way.

I installed the provided bracket holding the distribution maniflold onto the grill. You reuse the passenger brace bolt and use a provided bolt and neat aluminum tab nut to secure the bracket in place. I dry fit it a couple of times and had to grind it in a spot and bend it a little to get the exact orientation I wanted. The manifold has the pressure switch, a safety valve, the input from the compressor, and a quick connect for output.

View attachment 590821

I then installed the included nipple onto the York's intake port and cut a short piece of provided tubing to length and cut the vent line coming from the air box so I could insert a tee which will provide filtered air to the York. I also dry fit the fitting and line from the compressor to the distribution manifold (not inserted yet in the pics). This arrangement pretty much fixed the issue I had earlier with the vent line contacting the heatsink.

View attachment 590822

They provide a nice 6' piece of stainless braided airline that is supposed to help cool the hot air a bit before it gets to the airline distribution manifold. This is likely the routing I will use since it is pretty much to only option. One thing I found intriguing is, in the instructions, they show an optional oil filter between the end of the braided line and the distribution bracket with a return line connecting the filter's drain to the oil fill plug on the suction side of the pump. It has a float that releases oil when it gets to a certain level, and I assume the suction of the compressor sucks it back in. Has anyone tried this? The filter on the ORO site is pricey, though - but that exact filter is that price everywhere I've looked.

Here's a wider shot of the install so far.

View attachment 590823

With the newer "improved" York from ORO you technically no longer are supposed to need that coalescing/oil removal filter anymore. Now some members have said that they were still getting a fair amount of oil into their air system even with the new York. I haven't ran mine long enough yet to be able to say. I had that return system on mine before due to my compressor running more than for just refilling tires or running a ARB. Before you spend the money I'd run it for a while and see what happens. And yes the steel braided line does help cool the air before it gets to the block. I won't tell you about melting some air hose that couldn't take the heat. I ended up using the old A/C line fore a few months and then made a copper line to cool the air.

Also in reading your other post you said that you'd added 10oz of the oil to your York? But I might be incorrect but I thought you were only supposed to put 8oz of the oil into it? If you're overfull I know you'll have oil in your air system.

It Looks great.

 

[jrfuda]

Also in reading your other post you said that you'd added 10oz of the oil to your York? But I might be incorrect but I thought you were only supposed to put 8oz of the oil into it? If you're overfull I know you'll have oil in your air system.

I'm not sure how many ounces it was. The instructions said to put it all in (came in a repurposed water bottle). I did end up leaving about an inch of oil in the bottle because the site glass said it was full... I might actually be a smidge above the mid-point.

Did you need to run heat resistant line after the first manifold? I'm planning on using some regular line, like what comes with a workshop air distro system (which looks like the ARB line and some of the line that came with my ORO kit). I was going to run line from the first manifold to a tank and/or manifold at the unused battery tray on the driver's side and mount my solenoids and all my distro stuff there.

Thanks for your help. I ended up ordering the power tank manifold yesterday and will figure the rest out once it arrives.

 

[Wildman]

I'm not sure how many ounces it was. The instructions said to put it all in (came in a repurposed water bottle). I did end up leaving about an inch of oil in the bottle because the site glass said it was full... I might actually be a smidge above the mid-point.

Then you should be good but you still might spit some oil for the first little bit. If you don't know his mix is STP & 10wt Royal Purple. For the next time you do a oil change. It should be a yearly thing.

Did you need to run heat resistant line after the first manifold? I'm planning on using some regular line, like what comes with a workshop air distro system (which looks like the ARB line and some of the line that came with my ORO kit). I was going to run line from the first manifold to a tank and/or manifold at the unused battery tray on the driver's side and mount my solenoids and all my distro stuff there.

No after that steel braided line you're good to run whatever style hose you want. I've been trying out the hard plastic lines used in semis but I'm not sure if I'll need to go back to rubber line.

Thanks for your help. I ended up ordering the power tank manifold yesterday and will figure the rest out once it arrives.

Glad to help. That's what this forum is all about. And I've had OBA for years so have tried a lot of different stuff over the years. I really miss Kilby Air as they were always my Go To and Brad was great to deal with.

 

[jrfuda]

I made a silly mistake and ended up with the worlds crappiest supercharger instead of an OBA system. I thought I had looked at the photo showing the intake and output of the compressor and connected my lines correctly, but i had them reversed. The last thing I did today was test the system. I could not understand why, when I triggered the relay (no switch connected yet, just sticking the trigger wire on the battery), the clutch would engage but I would get no air. Messed with it for a few minutes and everything seemed like it was working right. I finally looked at the instructions again and realized I had the in and out swapped, so I will need to fix that tomorrow. The only bad thing is the cut I made in the vent hose for the T is now the wrong place. I have some barbed splice fittings that should fit the hose, but it's annoying that it is going to now have the tee and a splice just a few inches apart. Maybe I'll buy a new piece of straight hose and reroute the whole thing using elbows, so it has more clearance from the compressor or just leave it with the extra splice.

Here is everything else I did today before I made the realization above, I had finished connecting the hose, mounting the relay and running and dressing all the wiring. I then started mocking up some of the air distribution and finalizing where I would mount it. Here it is just resting against the inner fender above the driver's side battery tray. I will use the remaining space for another manifold for the solenoids and distribution system.

The tank is from Hadley Horns. It has two threaded studs, two ports on one end and one port on the other. I drilled the inner fender to accommodate the studs, but wanted to space it a bit so the studs would not protrude too much and also provide some sort of cushioning (probably not necessary). I had some hose left over from earlier (that I probably should have saved due to the unknown to me at the time mistake I mentioned at the beginning of this post, but there is still some left). So, I decided to make some rubber washers from it. I used some punches that we use for other things (I also have heart shaped punches) and a leather hole punch to make rubber washers.

Here are the washers and some stainless fender washers mocked up in the threaded studs. When installed, from outside-in it will be:

nut - washer - inner fender - rubber washer- fender washer - rubber washer - fender washer - tank

This gives me the spacing I want and minimizes steel-to-aluminum contact. I'll slater the contacting parts with anti-seize to be safe, as I have with everything else contacting the inner fenders.

Next thing I need to figure out is how to get the manual drain I have connected to the bottom port. The drain kit is supposed to be 1/4" NPT, but I think it is larger. The Hadley tanks did not come with any instructions, but their website says '1/4" fitting provided.' Hadley. Google says 7/16-24, but that is definitely too big. Searching the forum for "Hadley" had several hits, but nothing I could find about the fittings. When I tried threading the plug from the tank into my thread checker, the closest fit was M10, but it was loose. The threads are visually a little finer than M10 and the overall diameter is a tiny bit smaller. I may have to go to the store with the parts and do trial and error until something fits.

 

[lBasket]

I made a silly mistake and ended up with the worlds crappiest supercharger instead of an OBA system. I thought I had looked at the photo showing the intake and output of the compressor and connected my lines correctly, but i had them reversed. The last thing I did today was test the system. I could not understand why, when I triggered the relay (no switch connected yet, just sticking the trigger wire on the battery), the clutch would engage but I would get no air. Messed with it for a few minutes and everything seemed like it was working right. I finally looked at the instructions again and realized I had the in and out swapped, so I will need to fix that tomorrow. The only bad thing is the cut I made in the vent hose for the T is now the wrong place. I have some barbed splice fittings that should fit the hose, but it's annoying that it is going to now have the tee and a splice just a few inches apart. Maybe I'll buy a new piece of straight hose and reroute the whole thing using elbows, so it has more clearance from the compressor or just leave it with the extra splice.

Here is everything else I did today before I made the realization above, I had finished connecting the hose, mounting the relay and running and dressing all the wiring. I then started mocking up some of the air distribution and finalizing where I would mount it. Here it is just resting against the inner fender above the driver's side battery tray. I will use the remaining space for another manifold for the solenoids and distribution system.

View attachment 591062

The tank is from Hadley Horns. It has two threaded studs, two ports on one end and one port on the other. I drilled the inner fender to accommodate the studs, but wanted to space it a bit so the studs would not protrude too much and also provide some sort of cushioning (probably not necessary). I had some hose left over from earlier (that I probably should have saved due to the unknown to me at the time mistake I mentioned at the beginning of this post, but there is still some left). So, I decided to make some rubber washers from it. I used some punches that we use for other things (I also have heart shaped punches) and a leather hole punch to make rubber washers.

View attachment 591063

Here are the washers and some stainless fender washers mocked up in the threaded studs. When installed, from outside-in it will be:

nut - washer - inner fender - rubber washer- fender washer - rubber washer - fender washer - tank

View attachment 591064

This gives me the spacing I want and minimizes steel-to-aluminum contact. I'll slater the contacting parts with anti-seize to be safe, as I have with everything else contacting the inner fenders.

Next thing I need to figure out is how to get the manual drain I have connected to the bottom port. The drain kit is supposed to be 1/4" NPT, but I think it is larger. The Hadley tanks did not come with any instructions, but their website says '1/4" fitting provided.' Hadley. Google says 7/16-24, but that is definitely too big. Searching the forum for "Hadley" had several hits, but nothing I could find about the fittings. When I tried threading the plug from the tank into my thread checker, the closest fit was M10, but it was loose. The threads are visually a little finer than M10 and the overall diameter is a tiny bit smaller. I may have to go to the store with the parts and do trial and error until something fits.

View attachment 591065

My tap sets came with these gauges and they're nice for knowing what you're looking for when you go out for hardware. Maybe you can pick one up for next time

https://www.acehardware.com/departm...dies/21958?store=16357&gStoreCode=16357&gQT=1

 

[jrfuda]

My tap sets came with these gauges and they're nice for knowing what you're looking for when you go out for hardware. Maybe you can pick one up for next time

https://www.acehardware.com/departm...dies/21958?store=16357&gStoreCode=16357&gQT=1

I have both a metric and SAE thread checker like the ones hung up by the fasteners at the big box stores and my metric/SAE thread chaser kit. Nothing matched. Maybe it's a fitting thread that is not shared with SAE and Metric nuts and bolts. I only tried the plug in the thread checker and chaser, maybe I should try one of the male thread chasers in the actual port to be sure.

 

[jjvw]

I made a silly mistake and ended up with the worlds crappiest supercharger instead of an OBA system. I thought I had looked at the photo showing the intake and output of the compressor and connected my lines correctly, but i had them reversed. ...

You have a mediocre supercharger and an engine driven tire deflater.

 

[jrfuda]

Hmm. Almost everything I'm finding now is saying the Hadley tanks use 1/8-27 NPT... Is that going to be a bottleneck?

Using MS Copilot AI, it tells me a 1/8 NPT fitting will allow 20-25 CFM at 150 PSI and 5-7 CFM at 30 PSI. The same AI tells me that flow through a Schrader valve is 10-12 CFM at 150 PSI and 2.6 CFM at 30 PSI, so the valve is really the bottleneck for tire inflation. It also says my current 285/70R17 tires hold 5.22 CF of air. The AI is seriously flawed. I started asking it questions about how long it would take to fill the tire, and it kept subtracting atmospheric pressure so then I had to tell it to fill the tire that many PSI above atmospheric pressure and it gave me results that exceeded the previously mentioned flow limitation through the Shrader valve, so I had to specify that as well.

I've never timed it, but my Cali Air Tools 2HP compressor takes a bit of time to fill tires and it is rated 6.40 CFM @ 40 PSI and 5.30 CFM @ 90 PSI.

I run my tires at 26 and will go to maybe 15 for offroad (I need to experiment). Maybe I'll do a test run of how long to inflate them from 15 to 26 with and without the tank in the mix to see how much of a bottleneck it creates. First i need to get some 1/8 NT to 1/4 NPT adapters.

 

[Wildman]

Adding a tank really doesn't help much when it comes to filling tires or anything else. It's been discussed multiple times on here. So before you chase your tail too much on this just know that.

 

[jrfuda]

Adding a tank really doesn't help much when it comes to filling tires or anything else. It's been discussed multiple times on here. So before you chase your tail too much on this just know that.

Thank you. I understand my little tank is more of a big manifold. I'm mostly want it as a sort of water/oil Seperator and to give me a little buffer of maybe two or three locker/SwayLOC activations (if my system is leak-free) without the compressor kicking in. Probably a fruitless pursuit.

 

[Wildman]

Thank you. I understand my little tank is more of a big manifold. I'm mostly want it as a sort of water/oil Seperator and to give me a little buffer of maybe two or three locker/SwayLOC activations (if my system is leak-free) without the compressor kicking in. Probably a fruitless pursuit.

I totally get it & understand. With the AiRock system I need a air tank so I have mine mounted behind the drivers seat. I'd guess you'd get 3-4 cycles prior to having to refill the tank. I've still got a small air leak somewhere on my system so my compressor is cycling about every 15-20 minutes.

If your main goal is for your lockers & the air cylinder on the SwayLoc how much CFM flowing through the port on the tank doesn't matter & when filling tires the tank doesn't help much of any.

 

[jrfuda]

Got a little bit done this weekend, but it was mostly spent trying things, taking apart, and trying something else.

I corrected my mistake with reversing the flow of the compressor. I scrounged up some barbed connectors and some red silicon vac line I had in the garage to get the hose lines to lay like I wanted. I do not think the line will make any difference. The ID seems to be a little smaller than the OE hose.

My 1/8 NPT to 1/4 NPT adapters came in and they worked great, confirming the tank was tapped for 1/8-27 NPT. Hadley also responded first thing this morning to the email I sent them Friday afternoon confirming this as well. I decided I will put my connections for inflating tires ahead of the regulator, tank, and solenoid manifold and place a check valve between before the regulator so tires will only be inflated by the air coming from the compressor which will eliminate any bottleneck concerns I had and still give me the tank for a little buffer for the solenoids.

I have a pair of cube floods I got from Harbor freight for free when I purchased my winch. I decided to use them as additional reverse lights / area illumination lights. I mounted them to the rear bumper and routed the wires to one of the relays in my RC MC6 for manual activation (they are too much to always come on when reversing in most conditions). They give a nice spread of light, with extra LEDs on the outside of each light so they pretty much light up 180 degrees around the rear.

I have a 6 OEM / 4 Carling switch panel from Custom 3D Fab that will replace the existing panel at the bottom of the center dash console. I'll move the three OEM switches for rear defrost, rear washer, and OD Off to the new panel. In addition to existing OE switches, I have new OE style switches labeled "dome light" (override for dome light when doors are off) and "12V Power" (12V outlet I'll install in the rear of the tub for my ICECO Cooler, battery, and solar panel setup). I have another OE style switch on the way that just says "On" that will be for some interior accent lighting as I've found the floorboards to be a little too dark at night. It is also a request from my wife, who loves RGB lighting (so the interior and rock lights will be app-controlled RGB for her). I installed RGB lighting in some of our cabinetry while renovating and she always shows it to first time visitors. I then have four rocker switches for the compressor, SwayLOC, and rear and front ARB lockers. Here are the OE and Custom 3D fab panels.

I started the tedious task of wiring the custom 3D panel switches. Wiring of the OE-style switches will be straight forward as they do not have an independent connection for their LED, so I will just ground them and connect them to accessory power and (for the 12V and accent lights) the relay controlling those items. For the dome light bypass, I'll just run the bypass wire in and out where the power and load would normally go. Now for the Carling-style switches. I wired the switches so that none of the switches work until the compressor is switched on. Once the compressor is on, the SwayLOC and rear locker switches have power. The front locker switch does not get power until the rear locker switch has power. This is similar to how everything would be wired if I was using an ARB-pure system and their wiring harness (plus the SwayLOC).

Two of the Carling-style switches were included with the ARB lockers and the other two are from OTRATTW. All four are functionally the same. The lower LED is powered by the wire connected to post 6 and the upper LED is switched on with the switch.

My question is, what is everyone connecting to post #6 (diagram below)? If I connect it to switched power, the switches will always illuminate when the Jeep is on. I can also connect it to an illumination or dimmer circuit. Do our TJs have separate wires for illumination and dimmer? I looked through the service manual and it seems like there is, with illumination just being on/off and dimmer sending pulsed power depending on the dim level. Some Googling tells me the OTRATTW switches have dimmable LEDs, but I'm not sure about the ARB switches. This makes me think it is beneficial to find the dimmer wire, so I can dim them, so they won't blind me. I cannot remember from when I installed the new stereo if I connected the on/off, dimmer, or both. Here is my wiring so far and the switch diagram. I will not be able to finish up until I get the last OE switch, which I just ordered and will take about a week to get to me.

 

[jrfuda]

I spent my garage time yesterday planning out my rock light install and starting on it while I wait for the rest of my onboard air distro parts to arrive. I'm using three total rock light kits, one 4-emitter kit and two 6-emitter kits. The4 piece kit is really just accent lights, two inside the grille and one over each of the fender vents. I will likely keep these at minimum brightness and amber in color so they will be subtle since they really don't serve any functional purpose. For the 6-piece kits, I'm running one kit on each side. Here's a photo with where I'm installing and roughly how the light will cast (not accounting for shadows, of course). This should provide good visibility all the way around the axle with the under-door light doubling as a puddle light. I plan on rigging the lights so they are wired to both a switch and triggered by opening the doors. I have some two power source-in one device-out rectifier gadgets I'll use so the dome light won't come on when I manually activate the rock lights. Yellow is rock lights and amber is the grille/vent accent lights.

There were several spots where it was either impossible or very difficult to get washers and nuts on the fasteners holding the rock lights in place. I decided to use riv nuts. For the grille, I put the riv nuts in the aluminum body of the rock lights (picture of one nut installed and another getting ready to be installed below). To avoid drilling too big of a hole in the aluminum body of the lights, I downsized the hardware from M4 to M3, and only had to bore out the existing holes a tiny bit. I then laced wire through the mounting holes at the top of the grill, laced these wires through the rubber rock light mount and the rock light, pulled the lights into place with the wire, pulled the wire out of one side and threaded a screw into the hole, repeated for the other hole and then repeated the whole thing for the other grille light. I used the supplied hardware for the upper front fender light. For the vent accent light, lower front fender light, and light under the door I installed M4 riv nuts into the fender or tub and used the supplied M4 bolts and washers to secure the lights. I am keeping the fender well liners in the back, so the three per side rear-most lights will be bolted onto the liners before I reinstall them. I had to order two extensions to get the rearmost lights to reach with my preferred routing and control box placement (under the battery trays).

For a change of pace, I decided to work on something else for a bit. The two half doors I've been refurbishing still needed to be rekeyed and reassembled. I figured I'd knock-out the rekey this morning. I followed the excellent tutorial provided by @MountaineerTom here: https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/how-to-re-key-half-door-lock-cylinders.26338/ . He covers all the steps in great detail, so I will not repeat them here, but will post pictures of some of the steps. It is very easy to do and cost me $36 for the tumbler kit and $14 for the cylinder caps. The tumbler kit will pretty much last forever if you reuse your springs and reuse as many wafers as possible each time you rekey.

Parts

Disassembled

First cyclinder passed inspection. I took notes, so I was able to rebuild the second cylinder as fast as I could shove springs and wafers in it.

Both cylinders rekeyed and ready for reassembly.

Complete!

I'll be back to wiring and on-board air install tomorrow. I'll finish the half doors as the last thing before I take a break on Jeep work and move to Jeep driving in the spring.

 

[jrfuda]

The PowerTank manifold was just delivered. I am going to return it. It was missing the pressure relief valve and one of the compression fittings. It was also tapped 1/8 BSP all the way around whereas I was under the impression that only the two holes designated for the ARB solenoids were 1/8 BSP and the remainder were NPT. I'm going to order a cheap manifold from Amazon and some NPT to 1/8 BSP adapters.